It's officially winter everyone, and there's a chance you're either already feeling the effects on your skin and hair or you will be soon. Thankfully, Dr. Glynis Ablon, a Dove expert dermatologist, took time to speak with Bustle about what both men and women need to know about winter hair care and how to make sure you are protecting and caring for both your hair and scalp during these harsh winter months.

For many, the winter season marks some of the harshest months when it comes to beauty. From dry skin to brittle tresses and out of control static, it seems as though bodies can't catch a break when the temperatures drop. Dr. Ablon was able to give some insight into why exactly hair reacts the way it does in winter, though, and provide ways to nourish hair.

From products to avoid to reasons why your hair may seem more frizzy or as if it's suffering from more static than usual, Dr. Ablon knows why, and she's educating men and women on what it means to care for your hair in the winter. What do you need to know about your hair in the winter?

1. Your Hair Changes In Winter

Dr. Ablon explains that your hair itself is changing in the winter. "The idea in cold weather is that it actually effects the hair shaft, the actual cuticle. It actually lifts up. That's why people feel that the hair is more dry, more frizzy, things like that." Rest assured that you're not imagining things.

2. Moisture Is Key

For winter hair care, things seem to be all about moisture. Dr. Ablon says, "What you want to do and what's really important — and that's why I love the Dove Men+Care — is the idea that you're getting something to seal in that moisture to really kind of give that coating to the outside...The idea is that you want to kind of coat that hair to protect it from that weather."

3. You Can Help Prevent Damage

Dr. Ablon was part of a survey of 200 dermatologist with 90 percent believing that physical stressors have a great deal of impact on hair fall and shedding. She says, "The idea is that you want to kind of do whatever you can to avoid the stressors. You know blow drying your hair everyday, you know using the chemicals, using the flatirons."

Another recommendation by Dr. Ablon? Conditioning. She explains, "You want to do a really good conditioner. That's super important for women. You don't need to condition at the root more, really just the strands — the hair shaft themselves — again to protect the hair."

4. Don't Forget Other Stressors

Dr. Ablon also spoke to a topic many forget about during the winter months and that's the hair's exposure to sunlight and how it can effect the damage done to your tresses. She explains, "You're still getting a lot of ultraviolet A radiation and so any of that stuff can still damage the hair... The idea is that if you're going to use, if you're going to use blowdryers and straighteners and things like that it really is nice to kind of coat the hair. There are new products out that really do protect the hair to those kind of damaging insults."

5. You Can Prevent That Dreaded Static

"The idea is that the dry air actually attracts these positive electric charges and that's what's causing that and so it doesn't do it as much on wet hair, it truly does it on the dry hair," Dr. Ablon explains, "So that's those little charges that are causing the hair to frizz. That's where again if you're using a good conditioner, a nice pomade that will smooth out the hair it usually prevents basically those electric charges from attracting that dry hair and causing that static."

What's the moral of the winter hair care story then? Moisture and protection. Embracing products that restore and retain moisture in your hair will prevent what seems to be the real root of the problem — the lifting of the cuticle and hair shaft. Now that you know the secret, it's probably time to go find a great conditioner.